TFA: The Spirit is the Spark
by Blackhooves
Summary: A story of a past love remembered but yet forgotten. A time where two worlds come closer together and a place where it seems anything is possible. A story where the Spirit is the Spark.
1. Prologue

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Prolouge

The best thing about coming back to life is that well, that you know that your alive! After I don't know how long of constant darkness, and not even knowing what is what anymore, when you can fell things, when you can _see_ things, its like going to the Well of All Sparks and back! I don't know what happened, but all I could remember was the decepticons came down on us like a storm, they came to take the protoforms, and succeeded...

I remember Prowl, finding me almost offline after the ambush from Lockdown and his crew when they took the protoforms. I had been wandering the halls, thinking back to the last time he had told me goodbye...

Prowl had come running down the hall, a little sad but also a little excited. "Eagle Eye! Wait!" I turned to look at him and smiled; this bot would always have a special place in my Spark. "I..I..I'm going on an optics quest. I came to say goodbye before I left." My smile left my face and I looked at him saddened. I told him, "Its never goodbye, never. Its only farewell." I pulled him into an embrase for what would be the last time. I never knew that Lockdown would come to take the protoforms, or that I would see him one last time as I went offline.

He held me close and whispered, "I wanted to ask you something, but I think it would be best if I asked when I came back." He held me closer to him, and tighter, not about to let go. We had grown close to each other during the time he had been training with Master Yoketron. I lived on the training facilities like him, but I worked there as a gaurd, and helped to train some of the younger bots when Master Yoketron could not.

"Don't ever forget me, because I will come back." I knew that he would miss me, but he also had to go before Warpath decided to grumble at Master Yoketron about Prowl again. I pulled away from him and said, "I know you'll come back, but you need to go before your get in trouble for staying to long." I smiled and chuckled quietly, when he pulled me to him and kissed me. It was the first time he had in almost a steller cycle, even though he had told me his feelings about 5 steller cycles ago.

Prowl smiled when he pulled back and said, "Farewell.." He ran off, a smile plastered on his face. And that would be the last time I would see him happy, atleast for a very long time.

He had come back only a few mega cycles after the amubush. I don't know how he found me but he did. I had just finished off the decepticon who had shot me with his plasma cannon. The energy ball had gone right through me, past my Spark chamber, and into some of my hard drives. How I stayed online that long was miracle, but miracles last only so long.

He came over to me and held me in his arms. "No, no you can't go offline!" He kept yelling that over and over, and I put my hand to his face and smiled, and said in almost in a whisper, "I knew you would come back. Now it's my turn to make a promise to you that no matter what, I will..." I coughed, my vocal processors almost gone, "I will come back." My arm fell slowly from his face as I went offline, my optic lights when off and the color that every Autobot and Decepticon had, went to grey.

He held me sadly for a few more moments, when he put me down to find Master Yoketron, and to see what became of him. I remembered it as clearly as the Sun shines on Cybertron ever solar cycle. I remembered my promise, but how I kept it, was a total mystery to me. I had woken up, or what felt like waking up, in a box that fit my body. I felt so much pain, yet so much relief to be online, when everything hit me. I should have been offline, which meant I was in my tomb, and if I was online now, I would definetly need a medical officer.

I then opened my optics to a darkness like no other. I called out with my raspy vocal proccesors, "Hello? Is... is anyone there?" I tried kicking the roof of the box, when I heard voices, none them I heard very cleary and all of it was muffled. I kicked the box as best I could again, when I heard footsteps running over. They lifted the lid, grunts and moans came as they had trouble lifting the heavy thing, when light flooded my vision. I heard a vew gasps, but was suddenly lifted from the box and heard a voice I didn't reconize say, "What's your name cadet?" I replied raspily, "Eagle Eye, my name is Eagle Eye."

My vision was completely blury, but what I did see was a unfmailiar bot carrying me to what I guessed was some sort of medical ward, and telling a couple of younger bots with strange accents to alert Ultra Magnus. He ran with what I felt was worry, and he kept saying something like, "It'll be ok Cadet, your going to be ok," and of course, "I'm Sentinel Prime, and I'm going to make sure your going to be ok."

Everything went completely dark as he kept trying to keep me focused on him. I didn't know what happened after that, but all I could think was, "What happened to Prowl?"


	2. Chapter 1

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 1

Everything was dark, and cold, so cold. I tryed to open my optics, but all I could see was a bright light, and a bot's shadow. I couldn't understand what he was saying, and all I knew was pain. "Can you hear me cadet? If you can, whats your name?" I was finally able to understand that bit, but when I tried to speak, it only came out as a cough. "Easy now", he said softly. He looked at my wounds, which for now only felt dull, and patched up any smaller ones around it. I winced a lot at his touch, but he said every time that I winced, "Keep still, and this will go faster", so eventually I did stop.

I don't know when I closed my optics, or opened them for that matter, but when I did, there wasn't a bot in the room this time. There were some voices outside, but there usually were. I tried to sit up, but ended up falling off the table with a crash with a few Medical instruments. It definetly brought one of the bots in from outside, and it just happened to be the same one from earlier. He helped me back up to the table, and layed me down gently. "Now rest, its all you can do for the next few solar cycles", said the young Medi-bot. I nodded to him and closed my optics once more.

The young bot went back out but left the door open, and I heard the Medi-bot say first, "Where did she come from? Let alone, how is she online?" Another bot, much older said, "She's not comin' back with me! I already have enough crew on my team." A third one, my age, said, "What if she went to Earth? I don't think she has much elsewhere to go, considering she has been offline for a Million steller cycles." The second bot perked up and said, "Of course she can go there! Optimus would love another member, exspecially after that recent incident with one of his team members..." And then he droned on and on about some ninja-bot who had gone offline but mysteriously came back online recently. After some time, I couldn't hear any more of what he said, because everything went black once more.

When I did come to it, boy did everything joint, and piece of circuitry in my body hurt!. "Scrap, what happened to me?" was all I could manage to say before I saw the Medi-bot from before talking to, who I guess was Optimus Prime. Another bot, a very old Medical officer I guessed from his coloring, was behind Optimus. Optimus was young, even just a little younger then me, but had a look of leadership on him, and he had seen things I guessed that made him who he was today. "What is this load of Scrap? You can't just send some wounded bot here! I don't have the kind of technology that you young bots have!" I was a bit surprised by the old white and red bot. He seemed to definetly know what he was talking about.

Optimus turned to his comrade and said gently, "Easy Ratchet. Remember, he just said that she was healed enough to function on her own. Ultra Magnus also ordered her as a new member of our team..." Ratchet turned around and walked off screen, mumbling something about 'young bots'. "When did Ultra Magnus issue the order", Optimus said questioning the young Medi-bot. "Just in the last decacycle. I actually made the request to him, thinking it would be best if she were sent to Earth, seeing her circumstances are not ordinary ones." I shook my head, feeling some what better after waking up to a sharp pain in my side, literally.

The screen shut off, and the Medi-bot turned to me, a smile plastered on his face, rewarding him with a confsued look on mine. "It looks like I was able to get you a new post, and you all fixed up in time." I was about to question him myself when a blue bot with the largest chin on his face that I had ever seen walked in. He looked at me with a glare, and said while pointing at me, "You cadet! Whats your name?" I glared right back at him and said, "My name is Eagle Eye." He came right up to me and put his face in mine and said, "Are you back-talking me soldiar, because if you are thats treason!"

I seriously couldn't believe this guy, but politly said, "No sir" He backed off, not fazed or surprised one bit, but just even more pissed. He went to the door and said, "Are you coming or not? I have to take you to that, organic planet." He said 'organic' with so much distate, I swear it would have dropped to the floor solid if it weren't just a word. The blue bot took me through the Infirmiry and outside to a large ship. The door opened, and would you believe who walked out of the ship? Ultra Magnus himself! I was stunned but saluted him as well as the blue bot.

"At ease soldiar. What is your name?" I looked at him while putting my arm down with just shock and said, "Eagle Eye, sir." He nodded and walked back up the gang plank into the ship while saying to the blue bot, "Sentinel Prime, show Eagle Eye her quaters." He walked up the gang plank with me in tow, seething with annoyance that a Prime, had to show a low ranking cadet to her quaters. I couldn't help but smirk, but then it hit me, where was Prowl?

I would have to find him after I got to this planet called Earth. He showed me my quaters, and the rest of the trip was pretty much a blur. Jazz had been on board, going back to Earth as well for visit, but when I talked to him, all he was doing was tapping his foot. He finally noticed me and turned off whatever he was listening to and said, "Eagle Eye? Is that you? Your online! But, h.." "I don't know," I interupted him. "So what were you listening to", I asked my old friend. He smiled and said, "How about I show you?" He reajusted my com-link, and then this wierd tune filled my head. I put my hand to com-link after he had reajusted it and I turned up the volume.

He turned his own 'music' on as he called it, and walked off, snapping his fingers. I went back to my quaters, and just couldn't believe, that a planet with so-called 'primitive technology, could create this. It was something called 'Life is a Highway'. It was old, even for Cybertronian standerds. It had a beat to it, and the song itself had true meaning. I listened to it while I walked down the hallways aimilessly. I couldn't help but think, would this place be the right one for me. The song was short, so I turned off my com-link. I found a window that looked out into space, even though we were traveling fast, you couldn't help but watch the stars speed by.

So I did watch them, and I watched them for several megacycles wihtout disturbance. I finally did go to my quaters and tried to take a statis nap, when a knock came at the door. It was Sentinel Prime, "Come," was pretty much all he could manage wihtout saying anything else. I followed him to the Bridge, and the view that I got was spark stopping. We had just come over the edge of the planet's moon to look over a planet with water, great landmasses of green, and what I supposed were ice caps at either pole of the planet.

We came in with a hard impact on the atmostphere, no promblems, but just a large jolt. I actually fell over, "Scrap..." No one else seemed to hear me though. I tried to reastablish my balance, but lost it once more when we landed with a loud thump. The gang plank went down and I followed Jazz and Ultra Magnus down, Sentinel came last of course. I was greeted by the sight of 4 bots I didn't recognize, but Prowl was not among them. I looked up to the sky and saw frozen water falling from it in something called 'snow'. It was a bit cold, but I liked it. I caught one of these 'snow flakes' but it melted right on contact. I finally looked up in facniation and wonder at everything around me till I heard a bot struggling to get outside.

When he finally did I looked at him, he looked familiar, almost like Prowl, but he couldn't be. He caught me looking at him when he gasped and fell over backwards into the snow. I smiled and put a hand to my mouth, trying not to show it. The Medi-bot of this team, Ratchet was his name, helped him up by letting the bot who looked like Prowl drape a his arm over his shoulder for balance. He eventually let go of Ratchets shoulder, when he came over to me, and he said in a voice just like Prowls's, "Eagle Eye? Is... is that you? But you went offline a million steller cycles ago!"

"How on the fifth moon of Fazam do you know my name? Yes, I've been told I was offline for the past million steler cycles but, how could you know that?" I looked at him and realized it was Prowl, but I had thought he had gone offline after the stories I heard on the trip here. He must have been brought back online somehow, his wounds weren't fully healed just like mine. "Lets get you both back in before Prowl's wounds freeze. And you need a diagnostic check, now", exclaimed the very irritated, and not to say old, Medic-bot. I let Prowl put his arm over my shoulder and helped bring him into the base, while the ship took off after Optimus had spoken with Ultra Magnus and Sentinel.

It was a pretty quick diagnostic check, even for a neccesary one. Prowl seemed just miffed that I was online, but what happened to him just as much surprised me as well. After he was checked over by Ratchet he went over to see Optimus in the, um I think humans call it a 'living room', I have no idea why though. He whispered to him and eventually he came back over to me and said, "Come, I want to show you something." I was supposed to get introductions tomorrow after I setteled in, but when we came to Prowl's room, and in the center was a great tree, its branches and trunk thick and strong enough to hold a small enough Autobot.

He looked at me, and touched my face just to make sure I was real and not some ghost. I was the one who pulled him into a hug, and held him close. "I don't know how it happened, or care if I ever will, but I'm just happy to see you again...", I said to him. Prowl fell into my embrace, and held me even tighter, his head over my shoulder. Bumblebee walked by and saw us, and stopped outside to watch. Ratchet also just happened to walk by when Bumblebee had just saw us, and he wacked Bumblebee upside his head, recieving a loud, "Hey what was that for?" and responded with a quiet, "Shush! Leave them alone, they need time to recoperate togethor." He pulled Bumblebee away, when Prowl pulled away from the embrace.

"I'm glad your alive, and that we can finally be togethor without..." I put a finger to his mouth, shushing him, and said, "Lets just enjoy the snow in the uh 'tree' as the humans call it." He nodded, and I helped him into the tree. We sat on one of the higher branches togethor and watcher the snow fall till we both went into a statis nap that lastest until the next morning.

When we woke up, I was in Prowls arms, and fortunetly he was still asleep. I gently and silently got out from his arms and his side to let him rest, when I came down from the tree and looked up and smiled. Then, Optimus walked by and stopped in the doorway, quietly saying, "I need you to come with me." I followed him to this 'living room' agian, and this time the other bots beside Prowl were all here. He getsured to the others with his hand and said, "Eagle Eye, I want you to meet the rest of our family." I looked at him, surprised he used such a word, but nodded anyways. "I'm Bulkhead, the uh big guy in the group", said the large green one. I smiled and said, "Hello Bulkhead."

"Hmm, I'm Ratchet, the team's Doc-bot." I nodded and said hello as well, when Bumblebee, the yellow bot I remembered from earlier whispered to Bulkhead, "The grumpy old Doc-bot you mean," and got a deservering smack once again from Ratchet. Prowl then came up behind me, somewhat still limping, but better then yesterday. He decided to stand beside me and turned and whispered in my ear, "I want to show you something, follow me." He then walked off to everyone's surprise. I shrugged and followed, and thought I might be able to get a new vehicle scan on the way.

We mostly walked down large alley ways but had to cross a street once. I scanned a light blue police mortorcycle while crossing that street. It was thin and sleek, meant for speed, but yet dependeble and strong. It would have to do, but the thought left my mind when we made it to the park. We both sat under a large shady tree togethor, away from most of the humans, but a few joggers saw us. We stayed quiet most of the time like we used to before, just enjoying each others company, and of course this 'nature'.

It was all just so, as Prowl would say, facinating. This world had such great beauty, but like Prowl said, they all rushed to see but never stayed still for long. I watched a great bird, a 'Bird of Prey' as they called it, land on a branch among us, and watch us with a studying eye. It looked up and called to another bird and took off, flying into the sky. Eventually Optimus called us on the com-link, saying that I had to meet someone. I helped Prowl up and we walked back. When we got there I saw an organic like no other...


	3. Chapter 2

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 2

Prowl had told me her name was Sari, almost like Sorry, but spelt differently. Well, life is like the road you travel on. She looked like any other organic to me, but when I focused my optics on her, I picked up traces of cybertronian technology. Ratchet explained to me once over the past few solar cycles whatt she was. He called her a 'techno-organic', a strange mix of a cybertronian protoform and the DNA from Mr. Sumdak. I had been introduced to her about 3 solar cycles after my arrival on Earth. I had been walking down the hall when all of a sudden she popped out of no-where while flying on her jetpack, and apparently being chased by Bumblebee. Sari darted around my head behind it and beyond when I turned back to look in front of me and WHAM!

Next thing I knew, I was under a very heavy mass of yellow and black. I was finally able to push him off not long after that, but boy did I have a proccesor ake. I was about to exclaim at the poor bot when I realized it was just Bumblebee. Sari had come to land just beside my right foot, with bumblebee muttering apoligies acting like I was about to throw my shuriken at him. I sighed and simply chuckled a bit at him, suprising them both. "Um, Eagle Eye right? I'm, um, sorry about running into you, I was um..." I cut bumblebee off with a servo and said, "I am a little annoyed, but just don't do it again. Its somewhat my fault as well because I wasn't looking either."

Bumblebee just stared at me dumb-founded before he could manage, "Wait your apoligizing? To me? Wow! I thought you were a stick in the mud though like Prowl!" I looked at him questioningly before he realized that wasnt the right thing to say. "Sorry, just Prowl is.." I cut him off again and just smiled. "I've heard what Prowl was like after I was..." I shook my head and kept walking. Bumblebee moved out of my way to let me pass and just stared after me, Sari however flew up right in front of me and said, "After you were what?"

I stopped in my tracks as so not to hit the techno-organic, and responded with an irritated look, "After I went offline." She left me alone after that for a couple of solar cycles, but eventually it started to eat at me how I had acted towards them both. Prowl was still mostly in the sick-bay with Ratchet getting all fixed up, so I didn't see him most of the time for now. It gave me a chance to be alone quite a bit, but since it was going to be a while for Prowl to get better, I thought why can't these two be my friends.

I found them playing video games, and after about 20 nanoclicks of watching them they finally noticed I was there. I looked them over with a look asking for forgivness when I said, "Can you please forgive me for my attitude towards you over the past few solar cycles? It's just been hard for me is all. I haven't had much to do though, and was wondering as well if I could join you in your, video game is it?" Bumblebee was just astonished but was quick to answer with a quirky, "Why not? We're playing Grand theft auto 2,000!"

I grabbed the extra controller and stood behind them while we played. It must have been atleast 3 megacycles before I even looked at the time. It was getting late, even for my standerds, and Earth's star they called the sun had set just as I had started to play this video game with them. "Hey Sari, shouldn't you be getting home? Its about a megacycle to midnight." She made a long awwww, and turned off the game. Bumblebee said his goodbyes to her and yawned right after she left, heading to his own room for a stasis nap. I started to follow suite, when I passed the sick-bay and saw Ratchet still at his computer typing.

Not even Ratchet stayed up this late. I walked up to him, surpsing him into almost making him jump and making him exclaimed, "Don't do that to me! An old bot like myself can't take that kind of thing anymore!" He turned back to his computer yawning. "Ratchet, I don't know you very well, but you need a statis nap. I can take over with the computer if you want." He turned around and sighed, "Kid, I know you want to help, but this kind of thing just isn't yours to do. Go and take your stasis nap kid, you need it." He turned back around to his computer, and I left him quietly to his work.

He finally did get to his stasis nap not to long after I had gone to Prowl's room. Optimus and the others agreed I could stay there in his room with him for now. I climbed the great tree that stood guardian in his room and found a suitible branch to nap on. It was quiet up here, except for the birds, the soft breeze in the tree's leaves, and the sound of the city that drifted in once and a while. I could imagine while Prowl loved this tree a lot, it was his place of peace that was his own. My optics eventually drifted to the stars, up to a constellation called Draco the Dragon.

I tilted my head a little to get a better view and connected the stars in my optics. It created a great creature of size and power, but yet could be gentle as a mother. I didn't know the story behind the constellation, but it still dazzled me. After watching the constellation move ever so slightly for some time, my optics finally closed and I fell into a stasis nap. It was peaceful and calm, dreamless, and soothing. In a stasis nap you could still think to a small exstent, and the only thought I could even think of then was that this place, this whole world, was now my home, and even though it had its dangers, it had more beauty then anything else.

Prowl had told me over the past week what he enjoyed most on this planet. We were both so glad to be with each other again, but we usually kept quiet about our true inner feelings around the others of the team, or 'family' as Optimus called it, for the time being. He had said that nature was beautiful, but that this planet's inhabitents as he put it, "They all rush to see things, but never sit still long enough to enjoy it!" I sadly agreed with him, but there was a side that he was not seeing. We were just as much machine as the technology that the humans built, we may have sparks and a mind, even emotions, but still we were based on machines.

He told me how one day about a few months before he went offline, soundwave had built a machine underneath the autobot base. It had been made so that their minds were put into a virtual reality so that he could gain control of them. They eventually destroyed soundwave in the end, but the time they had spent in the virtual world, was as humans. It was nothing truly close to the real think he said, but it left a mark on his spark that he would ever forget. I always looked at him in awe after that when he spoke of it. I could understand how Prowl felt about this world, this nature, and all of life around him, but what he didn't see was what he was.

I opened my optics to a still dark, but brightening sky. I decided to just lay there that time until one of the others came in and tried to get me up. I had never seen a sunrise before, and from the vantage point I had of it, with the sun rising over the sky line of the city, its rays touching everything in sight. It was so beautiful to me, that if I had been human at that very instant, I would have as humans called it 'cried'. Crying wasn't a natural thing to cybertronians, but Prowl had told me it was a human's outlet for most of their pain, and in some special cases, happyness.

I was just dazzled by its color. Eventually soon after, Optimus came in, and said shyly, "Um Eagle Eye, your uh, Prowl wants to see you." He left right after that, probably to get some other errand done, and I jumped down from the tree. I went down the hall to the sick-bay to see Prowl sitting up for the first time in a while and Ratchet was at his computer once more. The way Ratchet was yawning and how much he did told me that he hadn't had a good stasis nap last night. A smile came up to Prowl as I entered though, and seemed to just as much brighten his mood as well.

"Hello, I'm glad you could make it.." was all Prowl could manage before he went 'Agh!' in protest as Ratchet touched his wound. "Well if you kept still it wouldn't hurt so much now would it," exclaimed the poor doc-bot. I chuckled to myself in my head watching as Ratchet tried his best to fix up Prowl once more. He kept mumbling something about 'young bots', which only made me want to laugh out loud (lol). It got a smile out of me and giggle but that was all. I nodded to my old lover and walked over to his side. Ratchet eyed me with his optic sespisiouly but went back to his compuer, grumbling of course.

Prowl motioned with his servo for me to come and I put my head closer to his. He whispered in what a human would call my 'ear' and said, "I want to ask you something when I can. Its really important." I pulled back, confused and surprised by this, but just simply nodded in agreement. We talked about several things over the next few megacycles, catching up on the past and what he had been doing while I was well offline, as well as how he went offline as well. It had something to do about giving up his spark to save the city from an exploding omega supreme clone. It had created a shield around the explosion, and somehow he had trandported Optimus out of the shield to save him as well. He didn't understand how he did it, he just had.

Finally when Ratchet gave Prowl the signal he could go, we left the sick-bay and I followed him back to his room. He turned around and reached for my hand, finally taking it and when he opened his mouth to speak, I swear I would have fainted if I hadn't been in to much shock...


	4. Chapter 3

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 3

"Would you be my, um... Sparkmate?" My optics must have been the size of cybertron considering his reaction. I looked back at him and thought how to answer him. I pulled him into what a human might call a 'kiss', suprising him into a half-conscience state. I had waited so long for him to ask me this, and if he wasn't going to ask me anytime soon, I would have asked him instead. This 'kiss' lasted for several nanoclicks before I finally pulled away and asked, "Does that answer it?" He simply nodded and we kissed agian.

I suppose Ratchet had saw us on our second kiss, because I thought I heard him go by and he certainly left us alone the rest of that solar cycle. No one else bothered us as well. We spent the rest of the day not meditating or talking, but just sitting in the highest branch of the tree that would support us, and watch the world go by. We rested each of out heads on each others shoulders, and said not even a single word. We held each other's hands, happy, togethor at last.

We both went into a stasis nap at about the same time, when the stars had just begun their journey through Earth's sky. I was so happy, and so was Prowl. We were Sparkmates. The comittment of Sparkmates was the highest of any. It meant that you were tied to your Sparkmate for ever, even after the phsycial body containing your spark went offline. To become such things, you let a part of each other's spark touch and become one. They then returned back to their respective spark chambers, and that is what Sparkmates are. It was something that only a handful of autotbots, and decpeticons, even did. We both had just become a part of that handful.

Eventaully we both woke to Earth's rising sun, also to Ratchet's constant yelling at Bumblebee. We both chuckled at him, even if we hadn't shared sparks yet, we had always been intune with each other's thoughts. I helped him down the tree and took him back to the sick-bay. Optimus had given me premission recently to take my stasis naps in Prowl's room since we spent so much time with each other. Ratchet did another diognostic check on Prowl then gave him the good to go. Prowl went to go and watch some show on the monarch butterfly migration, and when I was about to join him, Ratchet put his servo on my shoulder.

"Did he you ask you kid?" I looked back at him and realized that maybe Ratchet had guessed Prowl has once been in 'love', and until now since Prowl never talked about me, he figured that it just had to be me. I nodded and he smiled, "He needs this. He's been sad for to long kid, and now its time he be happy, just as I have been for a little time." I raised an 'eyebrow' in and gave him the, "Really?" look, and he nodded. "Thank you, Ratchet", I whispered to him.

He let me go with a smile, but it turned into a frown accompinied by a groan as he went back to his computer. I shook my head and chuckled, surprised that even Ratchet had someone special. I passed by Bulkhead who smiled and nodded to me in greeting, and even Sari and Bumblebee who were once again moaning about how they 'needed' to play video games. Prowl sat in front of the large T.V. just as they showed clips of thousands of monarch butterflys in a forest cover any surface that was there. I sat by Bumblebee and nudged him, he looked at me surprised and I whispered to him, "Don't worry, the show ends in about 30 nanoclicks. After this show, I'll take Prowl somewhere special."

Bumblebee looked at me somewhat horrified that even the prospect of going with Prowl on a date was horrendes, then again, these two had a notorious history of argueing. He just looked at me wide-opticed, and then turned back to the show with a simply whisper of a 'Thank you'. I swore I would have laughed, but then Prowl shushed Bumblebee and me. After the show ended, Prowl was about to watch another nature show when I piped up with, "Hey Prowl, do you want to go for a walk?" He turned to me, and a large smile covered his face. "Um, of course." He got up with some of my help, and we left Bumblebee and Sari to their games. I winked back at Bumblebee, who still could only stare at me.

Me and Prowl eventaully ended up in the park. We sat in silence except for the occasinal chit chat about the wildlife and other things. I looked up into the sky, the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees leaving a soft green light to the forest. All of the songs of the birds filled the air, high twittering and low calls. We both looked at each other occasinally and kissed atleast once at a beautiful moment when a bird had just swopped past us, scattering leaves and sending other birds into flight.

About after 3 megacycles of being out in the forest, Optimus called up back through our com-link. I helped Prowl back to the base, and Ratchet once more checked on him. This solar cycle had really been quite simple. We had watched T.V of monarch butterfly's, went to the forest, and I even had talked to Ratchet. Optimus pulled me over in the hallway after Prowl went to his room and no one could hear us. "What did Prowl ask you last night? Ratchet won't tell me, and it seems no one else will", Optimus had this extrmeemly stressed look. I could understand he was still pained by his episode with 'Elite 1', Ratchet had told me, and still loved her somewhat. "He um, asked me if I would uh..." Just even being asked this kind of direct question made me stutter, but asked by my own leader? It just made things worse.

"He asked you to be his Sparkmate didn't he?" I just stared at him, and when I finally was able to get my wits, I nodded. He let out a tremendous sigh and even smiled. Putting his hand on my shoulder he said, "I thought it may have been something else. Thank you Eagle Eye. And congratulations." He shook his head and laughed at what I guessed were his own imaginations. I shrugged and went back to the 'living room', and watched Bumblebee and Sari play Plants Verses Zombies 27, configured to play for all gaming systems I believe.

Eventually, I was finally able to get control of the T.V. to Bumblebee's dissapointment of course. I turned on the T.V. to a music playing channel. It was currently playing 'Life is a Highway', a very old version by Rascal Flatts. It was so loud when I turned it on, it even woke up Ratchet from his statis with a rewarding, "Turn that scrap down!" Bumblebee certainly enjoyed it because he started doing some sort of break dancing only a robot could do. Sari watched, giggling as Bumblebee tried to do a flip in the air, and landed face first onto the pavement.

I couldn't help but crack up at his failed attempt to get up, and fail once more into an oil puddle. I did however get up and helped him up. He looked at me somewhat confused, but thanked me nontheless. I gave him some help wiping off the oil from him as Sari came over with a small cloth to help as well. She giggled and told Bee how silly he was. I looked over to see Prowl peeking over from the hallway, and winked at him. He came over and Bee started saying, "Yeah I know I ..." Prowl held up a hand and hesitantly said, "It's, alright BumbleBee. I uh... just wanted to check up on ...well you. I saw you fall so..."

Bumblebee started outright laughing and pretending to wipe a tear said, "Prowl actually caring about me? Oh wait..." He stopped laughing as Prowl walked away shaking his head, chuckled to himself that he had actually did that. "Did he, really mean that?" I looked at him and nodded. We sat back down to the T.V. but watched an episode form the 150th season of Modern Marvels, something about the invention of robots, and who would of thought, it was filmed at Sumdak tower.

It had been about two solar cycles after that when I got my first patrol. It was about as long as the other's, but consisted of the area around the docks. No one had done a patrol over that in solar cycles, and who would of guessed, I got it. Not many people went there except for the humans who worked there, some sea birds, but not much else. There were always ships docked at the place, I was making the final rounds of my patrol, walking along the docks, when I decided to just sit down and think.

I mostly thought of my past, thinking of what had happened in between, how Master Yoketron was dead, and how had me and Prowl come back online. Evntually after some time, I heard running footstpes coming. I hid myself behind a large pile of crates, when a young human female, an adolecent, came around the corner. She had a backpack on her, and there was yelling behind her. She came to an abrupt stop at the end of the docks, when police with flashlights came into the scene. "Stop! This is the police!" My optics swiveled between the girl and the newly arrived cops.

I walked out from behind the crates, sending the cops in a frenzy of gasps and well something close to what could be called a staring contest. The girl looked up at me, probably even more surprised then the cops. "I was on my patrol and I heard all this noise. Tell me officers, what is this about?" The man in charge of the other cops gulped and replied, stammering, "She a um, runaway mam'. Her parents...they filed a missing person report and we uh found her and were going to uhem, take her back to her parents." I raised an 'eyebrow' at him and said cooly, "I'll take it from here officer. No need to worry, I can get her home just fine."

The girl glared at me, but when I winked at her, she understood my meaning. The cops backed up and went back to their cars and such, driving back to their station. I lowered myself on one knee to be eye to eye with the girl and said simply, "Alright, whats the big idea?" She glared at me and said, "I could have done that myself you jerk! I was just fine till you came along and told them off. Because of you, now I will have to go home!" I squinted my optics at her, "Now listen here, I just saved your little arse from them, and I actually was going to ask you if you wanted to go home. Since your display just now, I won't take you back wherever they say your 'home' is, and don't call me a jerk! I don't care if it was meant to be an insult or not, just don't call me it again!"

She blinked at me and gurmbling said, "Fine, I won't call you a jerk any more, jerkbot, but why did you as you say, 'save my little arse'?" I growled a little and picked her up by her backpack, standing up my full height. "I saved your arse from them because I thought you might appreciate it. But if your going to complain all day how you were 'fine', when they had you at the end of the docks, then I can just leave you here and call them back. How would you like that?" She shook her head widely, scared comepletely at this point to leaking her garments. I put her gently down and then asked much more calmy, "Now do you want a ride or not?" She nodded quickly, so I transformed, and let her mount my seat.

As I drove her through the town and said to her on the drive, "Where do you want to go?" She pretty much stopped calling me jerkbot at this point and had reverted to bot. "Well, you could drop me off at the park, or outside the city." I grumbled, realizing she really wasn't going back willinging to this 'home' of hers. "Why did you run away anyways?" She looked at me as I stopped at the park and transformed back into robot mode. "Well, they aren't my real parents. Their foster parents. They keep telling me I have to do my share of the work, but pile their own things on top of mine." I looked at her then transformed back into robot mode and said, "Get on, I know where I can take you that you'll be safe for now."

I drove back to base, girl in tow, and fortunetly no one was up and about by the time I got back. I transformed quietly and took the girl to Prowl's room with me. "Eagle Eye, why do you have a human with you?" I looked up and smiled to see Prowl hanging upside down from the tree as usual. "The law enforcement of this planet were trying to take her back to her foster parents. She isn't happy there and I thought maybe she could take here for a couple of solar cycles, or until we can figure this out." The girl finally looked up to who I was talking to and exclamied, "What is he? A freakin' spider-monkey?" I shhhhhed her as best I could and said, "Keep it down, everyone else is taking a stasis nap right now. I don't want them finding out about you till tomorrow!"

She didn't exactly look happy, but grudgingly ablidged to keep quiet. I took her up into the tree, and helped her make a makeshift bed on one of the larger branches. Prowl slept higher as to not disturb the girl, and of course as he would have said 'not to frighten her', as if anything did at this point. I tooke my stasis nap on the same branch, a little farther out so not to hit her, but close enough to keep an eye on her. Optimus had said that bringing anyone from the outside to our base besides Mr. Sumdak and Sair was against the rules. And of course for the sake of just one girl, I broke that rule, and no one was going to be happy about it when they found out.


	5. Chapter 4

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 4

Her name was Franchesca, and was about 16. She had just finished her sophmore year at Highschool and was in the Band. Her parents had died in a horrible car crash about two years before then, just before she was going back into Highschool. She had been put into foster home after forster home, only becuase they couldn't handel this poor child. She had cried herself to sleep every night since that horrible crash, having nightmares of it over and over, always reminded of it. The night I had brought her to the base, she didn't cry from what I had seen or heard, and she told me she hadn't had any nightmares as well.

I took the day off from my patrol, saying I wanted to stay in the tree and think, but spoke to the girl about her past a good part of that day. I told her about myself, surprising her just as much as she had me. "So you um, 'cybertronians', don't have parents?" I looked to her and said, "Sometimes, a pair of lovers will have both their DNA inserted into a certain protoform, making it it almost like a 'child', and sometimes they will raise it themselves. It is extremely rare for that to happen, but thats as close to parents as you can get in terms of our species." She looked up at me and siad, "So every single one of you, is unique?" I nodded when she looked at me and said, "What will happen when Prime finds out about me?"

I could only say, "I don't know, but whatever does, I will stay by you." She smiled and said, "Good, because I thought you were going to let him yell the crap out of me and stuff..." I giggled at her statement, recieving a large scowl from her, making me cough and say, "Well, he might do that, but he might let you stay for a little longer." "Well, why can't I stay here with you guys?" Sighing, I said, "Because its not the best place for a human to grow up. It may be nice to, and you would be safe, but we could be in a lot of trouble if we let you stay here longer then needed." She huffed crossing arms, cursing under her breath and I said, "Eh! Its not my fualt, if it were up to me, I'd let you stay, but its not!"

She sniffled and looked at, and thinking I had made her cry made me immidietly soften up. "Eagle eye, your the closest thing to family I have ever had since my parents..." She literally broke down sobbing, when I gently picked her up and held her to my chest, lightly hugging her. "Shush little one, don't let go. I'm here..." She listened to my spark-beat as she cried, her tears running down my chest like rain. Prowl eventually came in and said to Franchesca as she looked up at him, "Everyday, something or someone dies. Even on cybertron, but even when that happens, you musn't let go, be strong."

She nodded to him, sniffling, but still clung to my chest, her crying went down only to an occacinal sniffle. I had been told that these humans had something called a heart, it was like a spark, but different. Strangley though, a heart and a spark both beat with rythem. She listened to my spark-beat as I listened to her heart-beat, and when she looked up at me and said, "Why does it sound like you have heart?" I smiled and said, "I do not have a heart, its like one, but different. Its called a Spark. A Spark is our spirit, its what gives us life and keeps us heart does the same thing though, doesn't it?" She nodded, and layed her head back on my chest. Ratchet from the sick-bay called Prowl, saying he need to do another diagnostic check on him, the third one this week.

I nodded to him and he left, off to see Ratchet once more. It was the end of this planets day, and its sun was just beginning to set. Me and the girl had talked all day, about our pasts, and our hopes for the future, and now, she had finally fallen asleep once more. I put her gently back into her bed on the large branch and put the blanket over her, and said, "No more nightmares for you...", and climbed down from the tree to go and check on Prowl.

Ratchet gave Prowl the go-ahead, but then he said it was my turn. Prowl went to go and check on Franchesca, and who would have thought it, Ratchet knew we were hiding something. "Alright kid, what are you hiding?" I opened my mouth and was about to make an excuse when he said, "Don't even think about telling me some kind of scrap about how you don't know anything. What is it?" I sighed, a little heavier then usual, and told him what had happened. He looked at me like I was crazy, "What were you thinkin'? Prime will tear out your Spark if he find outs!" "I know that Ratchet! Thats why I'm trying to find her a home before he does, unfortunetly, I'm afraid that may not happen."

Speak of the devil, Prime happened to walk by with a scowl on his face and asked, "Tear out your spark for what." He crossed the room and crossed his arms when he came face to face with me. This guy would have been scary if I didn't know him, but fortunetly, I did know him. I put on a very cheesy smile and said, "Nothin' Prime, nothing is going on. Hehe..." He uncrossed his arms and scowled, "Eagle eye, what did you do?" I then realized he thought I had gone and done something stupid, which technically I did. "Uh, I found this human, a girl actually, and she sorta ran away from her home, her foster home, so I uh, she kinda, is here in the base..." I squinted my optics, waiting for him to acutally realize what I did, and pretty much chew me up for it. It took him longer to realize then normal what I did, but it only took a nano second for him to start yelling. Unfortunetly, this was the only kind of yelling he reserved for this kind of situation.

"YOU BROUGHT A HUMAN IN THE BASE? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! WHAT ARE YOU, A GLITCH HEAD? YOU DON'T JUST BRING HUMANS RANDOMLY INTO THIS BASE FOR NO REASON!" Even his engine was revving at this point. He pretty much had the biggest scowl to in the history of cybertron! "Explain to me right now, why you brought that human here! NOW!" I opened my optics and said in a squeak, "Her parents are dead Prime! She...she had no place she could call home, her foster parents were horrible to her! I brought her thinking..." "You didn't think anything when you brought her here! She could be a Decepticon spy, even if Megatron is in Jail! She could give our location away", Optimus was actually shrieking by now. I looked at him, and seeing the look on his face, made him know that I was really scared.

The others on the base, not-including Prowl, had all gathered outside the sick-bay. "Please Optimus! Alteast let her stay here until I can find her a new home! Please!" He put his face right up in mine, and said seething with anger, "NO! No more of this! You are going to take her back to her Foster Parents whether you like it or not, and your going to take her back tonight!" I gulped, and looked him, my lips quivering. If I were human, I would have cried at this point. Ratchet looked concerened and said softly, "Prime, maybe the girl..." Prime turned on Ratchet and yelled, "If you think the girl should stay here, then you can help Eagle Eye take her back! Wheres Prowl?"

I realized that Prime knew at this point that Prowl was with Franchesca, I ran up and got in front of Prime, defiant. "No! This girl's parent's are dead! The least we can do is find her a new..." He pushed me aside looking back only to say, "Take the human home, thats an order! Ratchet you go with her..." He went off into Prowls room, leaving me alone with Ratchet and the others. Prime came back fairly quickly, holding the girl in his hand with all of her belongings packed in her bag already. "This is not the place for Humans to be, exspecially one as young as you. Ratchet and Eagle Eye are taking you home." Prime had deposited her on the ground in a not to softly way, leaving her looking up at his scowling face, crying.

I put myself between Prime and Franchesca, trying to calm her down as Prowl came around, looking hurt. Prime raised his arm between Prowl and me, and shook his head. "Now get going." He walked away, his face stern, but also saddened. He thought he had done the right thing, but once more, had not. Bumblebee, bulkhead, and even Sari had somehow dissapeared at this point, not wanting to get in Prime's way either. I transformed, Ratchet following my example, but having Franchesca ride with him. The girl got into Ratchet's passenger seat, and we rolled out, going to the address of her foster home.

When we got there, me and Ratchet had had our sirens on. We turned them off after the couple inside the house came outside, blinking and rubbing their eyes sleepily. Ratchet let Franchesca out of him, and then transformed as I did. The couple looked up at us, frightned probably out of their minds. Franchesca came over to me one more time, hugging my foot. I leaned over and hugged her properly, her tears fell onto my face, making it look I was cyring as well. "Please don't let go..." was all the girl managed to say. I whispered to her, "I have to, I'm sorry." I stood up to my height as the couple came over, astonished to see Franchesca with us. The Female adult came running and hugged her, but looked stern, yet happy to see her. "Now get inside Franchesca, go on.." She looked up to me with a scowl which actually surprised me. I never exspected anything of these people, not even a thank you.

"I don't know who you think who you are, but stay away from us and Franchesca. She doesn't belong to you, she belongs to us." Ratchet was about to say something when I put a servo on his shoulder. He kept quiet and only shook his head. The couple went inside, as we transformered and drove back to the base in silence. When we got back, it was completely silent. Ratchet went to the sick-bay, while I went back to Prowl's room. I climbed up to the branch he sat on, and sat next to him. He let me lean into him, putting his arm around my shoulders as I 'cried'. I could not produce tears, but I sobbed nontheless. This girl had needed us, but all Prime could think about was keeping the base a secret.

Prowl tried to calm me down, but couldn't keep himself from looking to the stars, and hope. We stayed awake until morning came, and Prime came to see us. He walked in, knocking first of course, when he said, "Look I know, that this may seem..." I jumped down from the tree right in front of Optimus, surprising him and simply saying, "Don't even try telling me it was the right thing to do Prime." I walked passed him without another word, and went on my patrol. The whole day was pretty much uneventful, except for a couple of police chases and another fire.

I got back to a base that was once again quiet, even Bumblebee and Sari were gone. Bulkhead was in the sick-bay for his own monthly diagnostic check from Ratchet, and Prowl was out on his daily patrol after finally given the a-ok from Ratchet. I had no idea where Optimus was, not seeing him on the base anywhere. I went back to Prowl's room and climbed as high as I could into the tree, and sobbed. Ratchet heard me from down the hall, but tryed to make a lot of noise with his tools to drown it out. I did however stop shortly after and said only to the air, "Optimus says to do our best to help the Humans, and when I do that, he says I did not think clearly..." I had my arms wrapped around my legs and put my head into my arms.

Ratchet somehow had made it to the entrance of Prowl's room with me strangely not noticing him. He coughed to get my attention, and when I finally came down he said, "What Prime did may not have been right, but he was only doing what he though was best." I nodded to him, putting my servos up in the air in surrender, "I know, I know, but their has to be..." My optics snapped open when I looked at Ratchet and said, "Wait, maybe their is a way..." I took off without further notice, transformed, and drove off, Ratchet following me, extremely confused...


	6. Chapter 5

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 5

I drove down the street, almost to the point of breaking down and just laying on the ground, staring blankly at the sky out of pure depression and sadness, but Ratchet kept me going. He spoke through the private channel on our com-link, "Its gonna be all right kid, Optimus was just... the girl will... just calm down Eagle Eye..." I had said nothing ever since Optimus had figured out our plan to help the girl find a new home. I had hoped that I could get the girl transferred to a new home, even if it were outside of Detroit, but Optimus had stopped us before we got to Sumdak tower to ask Mr. Sumdak if he could help us.

Optimus had come barreling down the street in vehicle form when he transformed and stopped us. He had made a very big scene in the middle of the street about us disobeying orders. We both had transformerd when I tried to explain, he got in my face, yelling cybertronian obcenities, fortunetly that no Human understood yet, about my ignorance. arrogance, and supposed stupidity. He called me quite a few things that moment, when Ratchet finally tried to intervene.

He took the rest of his anger out on Ratchet, not cursing at him, but saying that he would demote us and send him and I back to Cybertron for all he cared. Ratchet clamped his jaw at that and backed down, when Optimus yelled, "Now get both of your afts back to base!" He transformed and was ready to go, yelling once more, "I said back to base! Transform and roll out!" I had said nothing throughout the entire thing, and did as he said. Ratchet had opened up a private com-link channel so that we could speak, but for now, he was the only one speaking...

"Kid, we'll find another way..." I knew he was lieing, but it was a lie that hoped might be true someday. "The girl will find a home, a better one, even if we can't help her..." Another lie, we both knew that her current foster parents were planning on adopting her soon, but we both hoped that this second lie, was truth. We drove down the congested highway, heading back to base to recieve whatever punishment that Optimus gave us both. I only hoped that Ratchet was not given something that he could not handle.

I turned on my radio to the first channel that I could find, and a very old song called 'Scarborough Fair' was playing. I listened to the somewhat sad tune, a hollow feeling to it, yet it was filled with to much emotion. I could only hear the radio channel, and Ratchet was strangely quiet himself. Optimus said nothing to either of us as we drove to the base. We were all stopped by a traffic light when Optimus tried to speak to us through the open com-link channel. "Eagle Eye, I'm sorry I called you all those things, I'm just..." I interupted him, it was the first thing I had said in two megacycles, "Shut you tin can Prime and leave us alone, atleast until we get back to base."

He went silent just as I and Ratchet had, closing his com-link. We got to the base in short time. Optimus leading the way in, when me and Ratchet transformed. Optimus was about to speak when I said, "We were doing the right thing this time Optimus, so tell me, what are we being punished for then? Being glitch heads?" He was quiet, and when he didn't respond for several nanoclicks, I walked off. Ratchet sighed and went back to the Medical bay, going back to his typing. I turned into Prowl's empty room. Prowl was currently on an extended patrol as his punishment for today.

I climbed high into the tree, higher then I had ever gone before in that tree and sat on a large branch, my servos wrapped around my legs. I listened to the breeze, creating a stir in the leaves, giving the wild birds lift to their wings. I found a recording of 'Scarborough Fair' listening to it once more. It was calm and had a strange aura to it, but for some reason it held an understanding of her. I sighed, blinking my optics, watching Earth's sun set.

I heard Prowl drive into the base, finally finishing his long patrol and transformed. He walked into his, well maybe our room now, and looked up. He climbed the tree silently, seeing me up high through the leaves, and coming to sit next to me. "I heard what happened..." I nodded a his statement and said, "The whole world may have heard about it by now..." Prowl looked at me confused, never having heard me say anything close to what a human might called 'Dark' humor. I looked at him and said sadly, "Optimus says that we must help the humans, but when I try to help one, this happens..."

I looked away from him, hiding my face in my legs, my servos still wrapped around them as I whimpered. He hugged me close, wrapping his servos around me, humming like he did when he meditated in a way to try and calm me down. Bumblebee stuck his head in the doorway, hearing my whimpering, but on hearing Prowl humming, left us alone.

After some time, we both fell into a stasis nap. We were left undisturberd the entire night, even Bumblebee left us alone. Upon coming to Earth, I learned a thing about what humans called 'Dreams', it like doing something, but you only viewed it while you were 'asleep'. Cybertronians never had dreams unless they had been in stasis for extremely long amounts of time. I had never had a 'Dream' though, atleast not until now.

I was in a swiling black abyss, hearing Franchesca scream into the dark. I tried to find her, running on and endless black plain, perfectly flat and empty. She continued to scream, when finally it stopped. All of a sudden there a great flash of light, and the great black plain turned into a grassland filled with trees and grass. Franchesca was laying in the grass, happy, and not screaming, looking up at the clouds.

Butterflys danced in the air, hopping from flower to flower as I approached the girl. I stopped, and saw two adults. A couple, one on each side of Franchesca, and they were all happy. All of a sudden, I felt a liquid falling down my face, for in this 'Dream', I could cry. I smiled, not wanting to disturb them whent there was a crack of thunder and flash lightning, waking me again to the real world.

I awoke to a rainstorm, Prowl not beside me anymore, and the rain pouring into his room. The strange water splashed against my face, making it looked like I had cried, when I smiled. I finally realized what I could do for Franchesca, even if it meant never seeing her again. I unwrapped my servos from around me and slid down the tree, landing with a small clank to the floor. I walked out of Prowl's room, walking down the hallway, thunder echoing. I eventually came to the living room with Optimus trying to talk to Ratchet calmly, Bulkhead and Bumblebee watching cartoons with Sari, Prowl was with Ratchet, but not saying much.

Everyone went quiet when I entered the room, but Bumblebee and Bulkhead, along with Sari, quickly turned their heads back to the TV, while Optimus, Ratchet and Prowl continued to looke at me. Optimus coughed and said, "Um Eagle Eye, please forgive me for my earlier..um...show, I didn't know what that girl was going through..." I glared at him but stopped quickly and said, "I forgive you, and what do you mean?" Optimus looked at me somewhat emabaressed and said, "I didn't realize what the girl had gone through, and what her foster parents are doing to her now..."

I looked at him confused and said, "I only know that they did horrible things to her, what did they do to her?" Optimus furrowed his optic ridges and said, "You didn't know?" I went up to him and said, "Just tell me!" He gulped, "They abused her..." I looked at him, gaping, but then said, "We need to get her out of there and quickly, I know where we can take her..."

I went back into the medical-bay, Prowl, Optimus and Ratchet following me. "Ratchet, can you pull up this address?" I told him the address I had remember from my dream and he pulled it up. It was the home of the same couple I had seen in my dream, and they were looking for someone to adopt. I pointed to them and said, "Those two are the ones that we need to get Franchesca to..." Optimus turned from the computer and looked at me, his optics concerned, "Are you absoluty s-" I cut him off with a servo and said somewhat harshly, "Theres no time for questions, we just need to get her out of there..."

Prowl turned to look at me and said, "You saw them?" I knew what he was referring to, knowing that he had had dreams even before he had come to Earth, and I nodded. He looked at Optimus and said, "These are the ones, now we have to hurry..." Ratchet grumbled and stopped us with, "Well, its going to be a slag of a time trying to get this girl to them. They live all the way in..uh.. this place called Fernley, Nevada..." I looked at the large regional map he had pulled up, and it appeared that Fernley was on the other side of the continent from our current standing point.

I banged a servo on the wall but was immidietly calmed down by Prowl and I said, "We can get her there, we can..." I looked up at them with confidence, but knew inside that this was only a slim chance. Winter was coming and it was going to get cold, and being a motorcycle, I had no air condidtion. Optimus and Ratchet did, but they were needed here, but Bumblebee...

I turned and called down the hall, "Bumblebee! I need you real quick!" Optimus looked at me astonished at my rushed tone, "And how do you plan on getting her to Fernley? Having you and Bumblebee go? There could be a rouge Decepticon out there along the way, or even a human might fire on you!" I looked Optimus in the optic and said somewhat hushed, "I know the risks, and I believe that we can get her there..." Bumblebee came barreling into the medical bay yelling, "Whats going on?"

I looked at Bumblebee and with a nod from Optimus, I said, "Were going on a trip Bumblebee, to the desert." He looked at me like I was crazy, "What? Were going to a desert? Why!" I looked at him and said, "To save a girl..." He just stared at me wide-opticed and when he was about to say something else, Ratchet wacked him upside the head getting a loud Ouch from Bumblebee, "Keep your tin can shut kid and just do as she says! You would do the same for Sari what shes doing for this girl." He clamped his jaw shut and came running after me. I walked towards the door to outside the base when Bumblebee was about to call out for Sari. I stopped and before he said anything, I said, "Sari can't come on this mission, and I need you to gather all the blankets that you can find..."

He simply nodded and went off to some other section of the base when I looked outside and seeing the rain turn to soft snow. It was going to be a long mission, getting to Nevada. The girl was going to need water, and food, blankets they could take care of, but what about everything else? Sari came over to me as I looked outside and touched my left foot. I looked down at her in suprise and she said to me, "I can get you anything else you need Eagle Eye, and maybe my dad can help..."

I smiled down to her as I looked back up and outside, the snow beginning to create a new landscape, one of white and one that claimed to be a cold one...


	7. Chapter 6

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 6

It was dark and cold, the snow drifting down into piles, creating the trademark snowy landscape of Detroit. Not a single car had distrubed the road near the base, not this late at night, leaving a perfect rolling landscape of icey white snow, mixed with the steam formed from a human's breath. I stepped out into the snow, steam rising at once from my foot creating a perfect imprint of my foot, revealing the natural heating system that every cybertronian had.

I looked back over my shoulder as Bumblebee transformed and headed down the road, all of the supplys a human needed to survive this trip, put into his small trunk and his back seats. I ran after him, transforming and following him down the road. Leaving tracks and sending up an axtra flurry of snow into the cold night, we headed towards where Franchesca's current foster home was.

We sped into the night, our engines making echos off the buildings. We saw a few more cars on the way, but not much else. We finally arrived at her house. Bumblebee stayed in vehicle mode when I transformed and went to the second story window. I looked inside, trying to see beyond the curatains, and saw the sleeping shape of Franchesca. I tapped on the glass of the window quietly, waking up the girl with a fright.

I put a finger to my mouth in a gesture of shhh, when she opened her window to the crispness of Jack Frost. She smiled as she saw when I whispered, "Pack whatever you can, were taking you home.." She looked at me a bit surpised but did as I told her to. She kept her room light off, so as not to alert the couple not to far down the hallway, and she finally had her old backpack, everything of hers packed. She had put on some more appropriate clothing, packing extra in the bag, when I help my servo out to her. She climbed onto it through the open window, and I bought her down the ground.

She climbed down from my servo when Bumblebee opened the door to his passenger seat, saying quietly to her, "Coem on , get in, before those two find out!" She climbed in quickly and buckled up, but before closing the door, she looked up to me and asked, "Where are we going?" I kneeled and said, "Neveda..." She looked at me astonished but closed the door nontheless. I took off at a run before transforming, Bumblebee following me as we drove out of the city.

We drove through mostly backstreets, and at about 4:00 am in the morning, only 2 megacycles after having picked up Franchesca and were already heading away from Detroit through some small michigan town, I found a Missing Persons police report circulating through the detroit police's radio connections, having been filed by the foster parents. Optimus and the others were going to cover for us while we were gone, telling the city that we were on cybertron taking care of som business with Ultra Magnus. However, it would be very soon when they started blaming the Autobots for taking her.

I didn't hear much about it after that as we went down an almost empty highway. I had my hologram projector on, creating a fake human rider for me, but my autobot insignia still shone. It was a bright red like the others, placed at the front in between my headlights, just before my windshield. Several people around the world had heard about us, but usually only the people who lived in Detroit had seen us. Along the almost empty highway we did see however several people. Bumblebee's own insignia shown in the soft sunlight, almost gleaming like mine did. Serveral people who did spot the symbols watched us confused, and in awe. One little girl waved to me, recieving a wave from my hologram and a short honk from Bee.

The girl giggled and when he mother looked over to us, her mouth hung open for a good few seconds before she rubbed her eyes. I nodded to her in a solem hello, turning my attention back to the road and the journey ahead.

Franchesca kept herself busy with a small portable gaming system of some sort, I beleive it was made by an old company that called it self Nintendo, and read books as well. We travelled along highway 75, eventually passing Tolledo and Perrysburg. About halfway through the day, we were already on the west edge of ohio into illinoise. Me and Bumblebee knew we would have to stop at least for the night to get a quick stasis nap before hitting the road again the next day.

It was already about 9:00 when we hit Belleville, a small town just on the south-western edge of illinoise. We stopped in a small empty parking lot, parked ourselves for the night, and went into stasis. Bee kept his heater on for poor Franchesca who had fallen asleep 2 megacycles ago. We had made a few pitstops for her to get out and move around, but we had stayed in vehicle mode all day, and planned to until tomorrow.

I came out of my stasis nap to a annoying, whinny voice that could only belong to my friend Bumblebee. His voice was coming over the com-link, "Hey wake up! We have to get moving, we've got trouble." He turned the com-link to a radio channel, "It seems that two Autobots have gone missing, having been seen on a small hihgwya, having already made it to Illinoise. And the missing girl has..." He turned off the radio, and I started my engine with a huff, turning my hologram back on wearily.

Franchesca had already eaten a breakfest of dry ceral and a couple of granola bars, along with two bottles of water, all ready on the third. We made our way out of the empty parking lot, and started back onto the highway. We trudged along this time, already feeling the pain and wearyness of traveling like this without anything but a short stasis nap. Franchesca tried to keep warm with a blanket, and ate snacks in between, trying to keep a minimal number of crumbs from falling onto Bumblebees interior.

We made it to springfield at about 2:00, a busy town, and famous from what I had heard. All I had thought about in between then was how I would never see this girl again. I would never hear from her again personally for safety reasons, and I could never seek her out again. Optimus had told me the consequenses for this decision, but I all ready knew them the moment I had decided to help her.

I had been trying to convince myself it would be ok, but I knew that it wouldn't be for me. I was doing this for Franchesca, for her like and sake, for her safety. We made it to the edge of Springfield when we got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. It was all ready 4:00 in the afternoon, and me and Bumblebee both needed a stasis nap, badly.

We were stuck because of a truck accident, a bad one from the radio reports I kept hearing on my com-link. I used my hologram projector finally to try and cover up my Autobot insignia, making it light blue to blend into the background my vehicle mode, fortunetly Bubmlebee's was on top of his roof. I could tell from the damage reports that someone may have been almost killed, when they finally said that the driver was alive, but they couldn't remove him from the truck.

"Bumblebee, I'm going to help that driver..." I turned my engine back on and slipped in between the cars that I could, finally making it about 200ft from the wreckage before I could go no further in vehicle mode. Before I could transform, Bumblebee's voice invaded my com-link, "Wait! Bossbot told us to keep a low profile!" I tried to keep myself calm and reply, "But if we do keep a low profile, that human will die..." He kept quiet after that.

I transformed into robot mode, my hologram going off, and I finally opened my real optics for the first time in over a solar cycle. My joints were stiff, but I could still move quite well, when I looked around, trying to find a quick path to the truck. A lot of people looked at me astonished, having heard of the Autobots, but never beleiving they would ever seen one in their life time. I stood up from a crouching postition and ran, jumping in between the spaces of the cars, climbing over the trailers of trucks, when I finally made the 200ft gap to the wreckage of the truck.

Some of the Policemen and spectators had all ready seen me, but when I finally got to only a good 20ft from the turned over truck, things started to get really well, big. Every single able bodied person turned to look at me, unfortunetly, they also turned their guns at me. I tried to take a step closer to the truck, when one cop, the Captain I beelive, said with a pointed gun at me, "Don't move alien..." I had never really been called an alien on this planet before, even though I knew I was one here, it was still a shock to me.

I ignored his remark as best I could, leaping over the cars, a good 12 ft jump, small to me, but large to them. I ran over to the truck, firefighters moving out of the way, when I looked inside the truck. The human driver looked at me with wide eyes but made no advance to move away. I pulled the door away with some ease, but still tired from the long trip. The humans leg was stuck under the steering wheel, trapping him in such a way that if he was moved, he would die. I looked around and saw several firefighters watching.

"I need a firefighter, please, I need one of you to help me move him..." One brave soul came forward, a young man in his early 20's, and the only one to come forward. I put my servo down for him to climb onto, bringing him closer to the driver then anyone else had been able to get. The young firefighter was able to finally reach the driver, and cut the steering wheel loose. The driver let out a loud groan of pain as the firefighter removed the steering wheel, but was finally able to pull the injured man from the truck.

I put them back on the groud, the firefigher letting the injured truck driver put an arm over his shoulders and leaned on him. Serveral people who had come on ambulences came and took teh driver away, finally take him into an ambulence itself, and driving off somewhere to a hospital.I stood there, leaning a little back and forth from exhasution when teh firefighter came over to me. I leaned down to him, looking him in the eyes, my optics serene, but tired, and he said, "Thank you, whatever you are..." I nodded to him in welcome, not saying anything so as not to frighten any more people.

Traffic started to move again, Bumblebee with it, and I transformed and joined the rampage of cars, finally catching up to Bee, but having to seemingly dissapeared from the humans perspective. We made our way past the highway and started to take more town and back roads then highways from that point on.

We finally made it to Tulsa, Oklahoma very late at night, parking ourselves in yet another empty parking lot on the outskirts of the town. We both went into stasis naps, but Bumblebee, beforeing pweringdown said thorugh the com-link, "You did a brave thing..." I yawned through the com-link and said, "Its our job, remember?" He laughed and then we both nodded off into a long recharge mode.


	8. Chapter 7

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 7

It was raining when we woke up in that empty parking lot in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thunder echoed like a never ending cry, leaving every small creature in their homes, even the humans. A few brave ones came out to venture into it and tetst their strnetgh, but usually failed and entered a coffee shop or went back to their cars. The lightning flashed here and again, sending rippling thunder like a stone thrown into a pond.

I woke up bleery and exhausted, still having a long trip ahead of me, Bee, and the girl. I made a short buzzing sound through the com-link, waking up Bumblebee, then said, "Come on Bee, lets get a move on..." He yawned through the com-link about the same time that I did, him saying, "Ok..." We revved our engines quietly, me turning on my hologram, and Bumblebee trying to keep his heater going, and we took off through the wet and slippery streets of Tulsa. The rain poured down every inch of me, finding its way into crevices and corners that only water could get into.

I remember the ancient song Scarborough Fairt, and hummed into myself, privatly of course. Franchesca was shivering inside Bee, even if she bejeweled with blankets from head to two, and with the heart on full blast in Bumblebee. I opened the com-link as I stopped humming the tune and said, "Bumblebee, we need to be fast, we can't let her spend another night like this, and winter is all ready beginning to set it." He didn't say anything for a while and said, "I think she might be sick, do you think if we sped up a bit we could get to Ne- that desert place you were talkin' about?"

I had no time to correct him and said through the com-link, "I think we could, we just need to avoid as much traffic as possible. As well as the Police." Thunder echoed as I let loose my last words, closing the com-link once more, and beginning to hum a different tune, it was a tuneless melody,one that me and Prowl used during meditation. It helped calm me down enough to soothe my systems a bit, as well as my processer.

The rain continued to fall onto me and Bumblebee, a charade of slippery roads and trying not to become living lightning rods. Making it hard for both of systems to see the roads and conditions ahead of us.

We drove through Oklahome Citty, then onto Amarillo in the pan handle of Texas itself. It was all ready 4:00 when we got to Amarillo, usually the time we would slow down, but as Bumblebee was about to turn into a rest stop and rest for a moment I said through the com-link, "No, we have to keep going. We can't stop, or Franchesca..." I didn't dare say the words, the storm behindus, but the thunder echoing still in my adio proccesors. He sighed and kept behind me. My hologram was beginning to flicker as well, some drivers noticing, some not at all. All because of me, we had taken this journey, and we were deifnetly paying for it.

After three more megacycles of driving, we made it to Albluequerque, New Mexico. 6:00 PM human time was when we arrived there. We were both exausted but we needed to get to Nevada, and soon. Franchesca was beginning to shiver again, and even those she ate as much was need, we only had about a days worth left of food for her, and it was slim even at that.

We then took an immidiete turn around after Abluquerque, my systems beginning to shut down from lack of energy, and both of having to use our reserves. We headed up to colorado springs and made it there at about 4 megacycles after we left Abluquerque, and Franchesca was getting even sicker.

I was beginning to think that this may have been a bad idea, but I remembered something that Master Yoketron had told me, "Even the longest journey, will end sooner then you think." I put those words into my head, repeating them and repeating them to myself. It was 10:00 Pm human time, but we kept going, we never stopped this time for any pit stops or rests, we just kept going.

We finally hit Colrado Springs soon after 11:00 hit, and we knew then, that we had exahsuted as much energy as we could. Bumblebee found a parking garage, free parking ironically, and we turned ourselves off, Bumblebee's heater finally beginning to completely fail so Francheca wore as many blankets as she could.

It was a quiet night in that parking garage, I even spoke to Franchesca momentairly through Bumblebee's open window, but not for long, him closing the window to conserve what heat was left inside of his compartment. It seemed to be the loneliest night of my life at that moment, not even the millinion steller cycles that I was offline were as lonely as this, but then again, I couldn't remember those million steller cycles.

I shivered inwardly at the cold, for it was finally beginning to reach my own systems, but then, the forgiving sun fianlly rose. It peeked into that unforgiving parking garage, raising my tempreture enough to wake me from my strange half awake stasis nap.

We rolled slowly and stupidly tired out of the parking garage, finding not many people on the streets, and glad that Franchesca had survived the night. She had shivered through it all, but finally was warming up to the sun herself. We rolled out onto the streets, heading towards Fishlake National Forest to swing around it, like the moon around the earth, and head norths towards Salt Lake City, Utah.


	9. Chapter 8

TFA: The Spirit is the Spark

Chapter 8

We had travelled long and hard that day, but finally reached that couples house at night, the snow falling softly on us all. Franchesca was sick to the point of coughing, and needing to go to the hospital. I transformed into robot mode, Bumblebee staying in his vehicle form to keep Franchesca warm a little bit longer, my eyes glowing likw a beacon in the snow. I was a soldiar, wounded, ready to give up, but I walked up the pathway. My feet creating large footsteps, but they soon dissapeared in the raging, swirling snow. It was whispering, howling at me to go back, give up, but I knew that I couldn't...

I stumbled momentarily, falling over, but never got up. I lay there in the snow, only a few feet from the door, the snow covering my vision, but couldn't decide whether to go on not. I let the snow begin to cover me, taking me with it, when finally, I raised my head the snow falling to the ground in clumps, and I got to my feet. I trudged, leaving long drag marks in the snow as I went up to the lonely house. It was the only one for 2 miles around, and I got down on my knees by the door, creating another flurry of snow.

It was an old fashinoned house, looking almost out of place but quaint against the desert background, the style from about 100 years ago, from the 21st century. It had a large garden in the back, an even larger front yard with a huge driveway, completely covered in snow, even the green bushes were now snuffed out by the howling snow.

I tapped my finger on the wooden door, hoping, praying, listening. A light came on in the house, then another, and another, when finally the door opened. The two stood there in silence as they looked at me, dented and stratched up, kneeling in the snow at their front door, an alien, looking at them hopfully. The woman grabbed onto her husband, watching me, scared, but also confused.

"Please I need your help, theres a girl, she needs to go the hospital, we were trying to bring her here to you, but she got sick please..." I looked at them, pleading, begging, asking them to help her. The husband finally said, "Wait here..." they both went back in, and a few nanoclicks later, they both came back out with coats and boots on, and proper clothing. I tried to get up once they got out, but fell back into the snow once more. The wife came over and put an arm on my own and said, "We can take the girl to the hospital, but where is she?" My head looked over to Bumblebee, nothing but the glow of his headlights a reminder of the young bot. "Shes with my friend..." The Husband went off to go and get Franchesca when the wife said, "Where did you come from..."

I tried to speak, to tell her, but my optics closed tightly, falling, stumbling, back into the snow. I wasn't going offline, I knew that, but I still when into almost something like a stasis nap, or being unconscience. I didn't understand, why couldn't I wake up and see Franchesca? Why couldn't I say goodbye to her?

When I woke up, I heard something close to the sound of a plane engine. I opened my optics slowly, hoping to see Franchesca, on my chest, smiling at me, but what I saw was only the gray ceiling of the cargo camrpment of a plane. Bumblebee sat on the other side of the large cargo compartment, his head in between his knees. There were a couple of humans around, but they were just sitting down, reading magazines.

"Bee..." He looked up at me, a look of happyness crossed his face, ironic, him happy to see me? He crossed the space between relativly easyily and hugged me, "Eagle Eye your online!" I pushed him a little bit out of the hug, not our of rudeness, but out of concern and said, "Franchesca, what abo-" Bumblebee looked at me, we both would have cried if it were physically possible for us. "Shes with the family, they adopted her at the hospital, they say shes getting better..."

My optics scanned my surroundings, the cargo compartment, and some of the pages of the mgazines the two humans read. "Sari sent a plane to for us, were heading back to detroit and should be there in an hour." I turned my head up at him and looked at Bee, a true friend he had become, but only to have Franchesca, one who I could have called a 'daughter', was gone, and I could never see her again, ever."

"How long", I questioned him. He looked at me and said, "It was three days ago that you went into stasis, but I was able to get you a warehouse, then we got picked up in the plane." My head nodded, but my spark did nothing. My legs stood up, but I felt no sense. My head put itself against the side of the cargo wall, a servo on it as well, but I never knew what I did. I cryed, but no tears came, I shivered, but felt not cold, and a part of me died inside, a part that had been born when I met that girl so seemingly long ago, that was forever gone.

My feet dragged through snow, through the people infested streets, through the city I called home. I looked skyward, stopping to watch the snow fall silently, a now calm being, compared to the one who had ravaged me the night I lost Franchesca. The people watched me, stopping and turning, but continueing on in their daily business as I turned my head back down and conintued to walk.

It had been a week ago, when a part of me had died, when I would never see Franchesca again, and when the snow tryed to claim me. Prowl had been with me every second sense I got back, but today, I just wanted to be left alone. I finally made it back to the base, a soldiar now, fighting a battle that I could never win, a battle that we all fought.

I was greeted by smiles and waves, greetings of hello and offerings of hugs. I denied them all to their dissmay, and went up into Prowl's tree, as high as I could go, rubbing the spot fondly where Franchesca had last slept, before Prime had kicked her out. My lip components smiled, curling up ever so slightly at the thought, now a somewhat funny memory to me, making me wonder if Franchesca thought it that way now to.

No one came and called me, no one bothered me, not even Prowl or Bumblebee. The snow feel slighlty into Prowl's room, falling onto my face, metling on contact. All I had left was an empty spark, wanting to give up the fight, seeing as if there was nothing for me. My emotions weren't unstable they were just gone, except for sadness. No road truly led me anywhere anymore, and I was afraid to stumble in the dark.

All that was left of me was a ghost, a saddned ghost, but fortunetly, that would not last long for me. I looked up, a snow flake falling, so slowly, beautiful and glistneing, a perfect thing among a world of imperfect things. I smiled at the snowflake, realizing, that maybe just maybe, it wasn't so bad...

I had a dream, a dream of open skys and an open praire, and that dream came true. At least it did for my young friend, Franchesca. I never saw her again, but I did keep an eye out for her. Whenever she got into a chatroom, I would follow if I could, if she was in the newspaper, I would read the article, and if she ever called someone, I would listen if I could get away with it.

After she was adopted by the couple we brought her to, she picked up an instrument, something called the trumpet. She played it very well, beautifully even, and joined the high school band. She eventually got into a college while I, I watched over silently like I always did.

She had returned to Detroit, but to go to college here. She remember me, and even tried to seek me out, but for some reason, she could not find me. I had been ordered by Optimus, on behalf of Earth laws, never to speak directly to Franchesca again, to stay away from her when possible, and to let her rule her own life. Optimus knew I follow her through the internet and kept and eye on her, but I did stay away from her, for her own safety.

I was her silent guardian, but one day, I could no longer hold it back. I had driven up to her college, waiting outisde, my hologram human sitting on my seat. The hologram looked up, and beyond, towards the college and to Franchesca. My autobot insignia glittered like the snow, shining brilliantly like the first day it had been printed on me. She recognized me from my vehicle form, and my hologram.

"Follow your dreams, little child of the west wind...", those were this first and last words I would ever speak to her. She tried to run after me, but I took off in a flurry of snow, never to be seen by her eyes again.

That was her last day of college, 6 years after me and Bumblebee had taken her to that couple, yet it seemed only like yesterday that I fell unconscience in that howling snow. I never saw her again in my entire life from that day forward, but I certainly did hear about her. She had become a proffesional Trumpet player, going around the world, and living a life she had always wanted. I was happy for her, but I always wondered, did she ever listen to the wind, listen to hear me calling her name, to see the grass bend to my message, and would she ever recieve it? I would never know, but then again, she may have always been wondering the same thing...


	10. Epilogue

Sound the Bugle...

A Tribute

A Cry

A Tear

The snow fell gently across my face that night, whirling like dust devils, swriling forever more. It was sad to see all that beautiufl snow, only to know it would melt by morning, or a few days. My optics blinked to the cold, the forest a silent sentinal to my cry.

I let out astemy beath, turning to mist, then joining the swirling snow. I looked up, to see the stars twinkling, forgiving yet silent. I close my optics, and shivered, from the cold, and from my own feelings.

I let out a shaky voice, a small cry, a hope to be heard, but only heard by my own audio, and the snow around me. It was a tune I had heard so long ago, only to remember it like this. My legs pulled themselves towards me, my servos wrapped around them and I shivered as I said, "Sound the bugle now... play it just for me...as the season change, remember I use to be..."

My vocal proccesors shook from the sheer pain of the memory, they shook also from the sheer emotion, "Now I can't go one... I can't even start...I got nothin' left, just an empty heart..." I was a soldiar, wounded beyond recogntion, that I had to give up...

"Theres nothing more for me... lead me away...or leave me lyin here..."

The Bugle never sounded for me, and bever would, for who did the Bugle sound? No one...

"Tell them I don't care...theres not a road that I know, that leads to anywhere..." What I trurly feared more then anything else in this world, was without light, that I would stumble in the dark, lay right down and decide not to go one...

The snow whirled, furiously, a bright light in the distance, a voice called, calling out to me and said, "...Remember who you are...if you loose yourself, your courage will soon follow...so be stronge tonight...remember who you are..."

I blinked at the snow, listening to the voiceless call, then said to myself, with confidence, my courage once again rekindled as well as my spark, I looked out and said, "...Your a soldiar now, fighting in battle...to be free once more...and thats worth fighting for..."

The snow silently carrssed my face plates, my entire being and soul, and helped me to carry on. I stood up in the snow, walking towards some unknown destination, and believeing, that the spirit truly is the spark...


End file.
